Switch stand



.lune 24. 1924. 1,498,873

J. M. HOFFER SWITCH STAND Filedy April 19. 1924 ATTORNEY Patented .lune 24, 1924.

niran TES PATENT FFC.

JAMES IVI. HOFFEB, O'F STEELTON, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNR 'IO BETHLEHEM STEEL COMPANY, OCE BE'II-ILEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA.

SWITCH STAND.

Application filed April 19, 1924. Serial No. 707,584.

T 0 all whom t may concern:

Be it known that l, JAMES M. HOFFER, a citizen of the United States, and residing at Steelton, Dauphin County, State of Penn- Sylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Y Switch Stands, of which the following is a specification.

. My invention relates to switch stands of the type which may be actuated manually or automatically, the automatic operation being effected by passage of wheel flanges through the switch, and it has for an'object to provide apparatus of this character which shall hold switch points firmly in contact with track rails without likelihood of loose#V ness or play.

A further object of my invention is to provide a switch stand of the character referred to in which the holding Aand position cam is ofthe internal type, whereby the cam may be held by yieldable follower devices at points of maximum eective radii. In this way, for a given size of cam, the maXi mum effective radius may be utilized to hold the1 switch points firmly in engagement with rai s.

A further object of my invention is to provide a switch standof the character referred to in which the component parts, while designed for very effective operation, yet are of such a simple character that they may, for the most part, be cast,- thereby re-V ducing machining operations to a minimum.

These and other objects are accomplished by my invention as will be apparent from a consideration of the following description and the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this application, which:

Fig. 1 is a View showing my improved switch stand in side elevation;

Fig. 2 is a view showing the upper portion of the casing removed;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III of Fig. 2 viewed in the direc tion of the arrows; and,

Figs. 4 and 5 are detail vviews showing the actuating lever and locking connections therefor.

Referring nowto the drawings for a better understanding` of my invention, I show a housing, at 10, having a lower portion 11 adapted to be secured to ties or other` suitable supports, at 12, and having a cover portion 13 which is secured to the lower portion in any suitable manner, as by the screws through. the cam compartment 16 and it has' pivotallyr connected to its outer end a lever 19. lA bevel gear 20 is connected to the inner end of the shaft 18 and such gear meshes with a bevel gear 21 carried by the vertical shaft 22. The lower end of the shaft 22 carries actuating arms 23 for connection to rods connected to switch points, it being unnecessary to illustrate such rods and switch points, they being of a well-known typeand constituting no part of my present invention.

The horizontal shaft 18 and the vertical shaft 22 are held in predetermined positions by apparatus which will now be described. l/Vithin the cam compartment 16 and arranged coaxially with respect to. the shaft 18, I show a cam disc25 which has one face thereof provided with internal cam portions 26. The cam disc is lpreferably integral with a-journal hub portion 27, the latter being integral with a locking disc member 28 arranged externally of the housing." The shaft 18 may be' locked to the cam by moving. the lever 19' about its pivot 29 to engage notches 30 in the disc 28. From Figs. 4 and 5, it will be seen that the pivot 29 is carried by a supporting member 31 which is keyed tothe shaft 18 and which'is provided with a radial slot 32 within which the lever 19 is movable. The lever 19 may, therefore, occupy the dotted line position shownv in F ig. 4, in which the shaft 18 is connected to the cam disc 25 by engagement of such lever with the notches 30, or such lever may be disengaged, as shown in the full line position, in which position the shaft 18 may be readily actuated manually -to move the switch.

The cam disc 25 is held in predetermined positions by follower members or rollers 33 carried by rocker supports 34, which are pivotally mounted, at 35, with respect to the housing, such followers or rollers 33 being preferably carried by pintles 36, which are connected to the rockers 34 and project laterally therefrom. Tension or spring devices are connected to the rockers for biasing the latter outwardly from the axis of the cam disc so that the follower members or il (l rollers may be engaged in the cam portions 26 under pressure.

The tension or spring devices for biasing the follower members or rollers in the manner just referred to, asl illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3, preferably consist of rods 37 which extend through openings 33 in the partitions between the spring compartments 15 and the cam compartment 16 and have eyelets 39 whichiit about the pintles 36 between the rollers 33 and the rockers 34. Springs 40 are arranged about the rods 37 and the inner ends thereof are seated against the partitions 4l and separating the spring compartments from the cam compartment. The outer'ends of the springs are engaged by washers or followers 42, which, in turn, are engaged by nuts 43, whereby the compression-ofy the springs may be adjusted and the rockers held out with the followers or rollers 33 engaged in cam portions 26 under suitable pressure.

As may be seen from Fig. 3, a cam having internal cam portions 26 disposed in one face of a disc is of simple design and susceptible of economical manufacture. In this view, I show such cam portions as being defined by straight faces 45 which converge outwardly and radially from the axis of the disc. Such a cam construction may be cast and used satisfactorily without machining operations; or, if machining should be required, such machining may be simply and expeditiously effected.

By having. internal cam portions, the follower or roller members are at points of maximum radii when engaged at the bottoms of the camportions, as shown in Fig. 3. For a given size cam, therefore, the internal type of construction provides a much greater resisting movement than a cam construction of the external type.

Fromthe foregoing, it will be apparent that I have devised a switch stand of the manual` and automatic type in which the `component parts are of simple design and which may be produced very largely by casting operations. .Also, due to my internal holding cam, a maximum force is availableto resist move-ment of the switch. Another advantage of the internalfcam type of construction is that the vfollowers are capable of being held in predetermined positions with a very close fit, whereby looseness in the switch is very largely obviated and the points are held firmly in contact with rails.

While I have shown my invention in but one form, it will be obvious to those skilled inthe art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various other changes and modifications withouty departing from the spirit thereof, and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereupon as are imposed by the prior art or as are specifically set forth in the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention what I claim as new and desire to secure y Letters Patent is:

l. In a switch stand, the combination of a switch actuating shaft, an internal cam, spring pressed follower means for holding the cam in predetermined positions, actuating means connected to the shaft, and means for connecting and disconnecting the actuating means with respect to the cam.

2. In a switch stand, the combination of a switch actuating shaft, an internal cam, spring pressed follower means cooperating with the cam for holding the latter in predetermined positions, a lever pivotally connected to the shaft for rotating the latter, and means for connecting and disconnecting the lever with respect to the cam.

3. In a switch stand, the combination of a switch actuating shaft, acam disc having internal cam portions formed in one face thereof, spring pressed follower means cooperating with the cam portions for holding the disc in predetermined positions, actuating means connected to the shaft, and means for connecting and disconnecting the actuating means with respect to the cam.

4. In a switch stand, the combination of a housing, a switch actuating shaft journalled in the housing, a cam disc joui-nailed in the housing and having internal cam portions, movable follower means carried by the housing for engagement with the internal cam, spring means cooperating with the follower means to move the latter outwardly from the axis of the cam disc to engage the follower portions thereof with the cam to hold the latter in predetermined positions, means for actuating the shaft, and means for connecting and disconnecting the actuating means with respect to the cam.

5. In a switch stand, the combination of a housing, an actuating shaft journalled in the housing, a cam disc arranged coaxially of the actuating shaft and journalled in the housing, said cam disc having cam portions in one face thereof, a gear carried by one end of the actuating shaft, a switch shaft, a gear carried by the latter shaft and meshing with the first gear, rod means arranged within the housing and disposed between the cam and the gear on the actuating shaft, spring means cooperating with the rod means for urging the latter outwardly away from the actuating shaft, follower means carried by the rod means and cooperating with the cam portions for holding the cam disc in predetermined positions, a lever connected to the actuating shaft, and means for connecting and disconnecting the lever with respect to the cam disc.

6. In a switch stand, the combination of a housing, an actuating shaft journalled in the housing, a cam disc coaxial with respect to the shaft and journalled in the housing, said cam disc having cam portions in one face thereof, rods disposed laterally of said cam disc, springs for urging the rods outwardly away from the actuating shaft, follower means carried by the rods for engaging the cam portions, a lever connected to the actuating shaft, and means for connecting and disconnecting the lever with respect to the cam disc.

7. In a switch stand, the combination of a housing, an actuating shaft journalled in the housing, a cam disc coaxial with the v actuating shaft and journalled in the housing, said cam disc having internal cam portions in one face thereof, rods disposed transversely of the actuating shaft, rockers for supporting the inner ends of said rods, laterally-disposed followers carried by the inner ends of said rods and by the rockers for engaging said internal cam portions, springs for biasing the rods outwardly from the actuating shaft to engage the followers with the cam portions, means for moving the actuating shaft, and means for connecting and disconnecting the last-named means with respect to the cam disc.

8. In a switch stand, the combination of a housing having cam, spring, and gear compartments, a horizontal actuating shaft extending through the walls of the cam compartment, a gear in the gear compartment and connected to one end of said shaft, a vertical switch actuating shaft extending into the gear compartment, a gear carried by the last-named shaft and meshing with the first gear, a cam disc in the cam compartment arranged coaxially with respect to the horizontalpshaft and having cam portions in one face thereof, rods extending through openings in the walls between the spring compartments and the cam compartment, rocker supports for the inner ends of said rods in the cam compartment, follower members carried by the inner ends of said rods and by the rockers and engaging with the cam portions of said cam disc, compression springs in the spring compartments bearing against the separating walls between the latter compartments and the cam compartment, abutment means carried by the outer ends of the rods and arranged to hold the springs under compression, a lever connected to the horizontal shaft, and means for connecting and disconnecting the lever with respect to the cam disc.

. 9. In a switch stand, the combination of a housing, a horizontal shaft in the housing, a vertical shaft in the housing, bevel gears for connecting the shafts, a cam disc journalled in the housing coaxially of the horizontal shaft and having lateral internal cam portions in one face thereof, followers cooperating with said cam portions, rocker members for supporting the followers, spring means cooperating with each rocker member for biasing it outwardly to engage its follower with a cam portion, a lever connected to the horizontal shaft, and means for connecting and disconnecting the lever with respect to the cam disc.

l0. In a switch stand, the combination of a housing, a horizontal shaft journalled inthe housing, a vertical shaft journalled in the housing, bevel gears for connecting the shafts, a cam disc journalled in the housing and having a disc member arranged externally of the latter, said cam disc being arranged coaxially with respect to the horizontal shaft and having internal cam portions in one face thereof, rockers disposed laterally of the cam disc and having rollers for engaging with the cam portions, spring means for biasing the rockers out wardly to engage the rollers with the cam portions under pressure, a lever pivotally connected to the outer end of the horizontal shaft, said external disc having notches therein to receive the lever whereby the cam disc and horizontal shaft may be locked together.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature this 4th day of April 1924.

JAMES M. HOFFER. 

